In the fourteenth episode of the second season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I was wrong. Now everything is destroyed. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Buffy.
I wrote about five hundred words for this post, and I’ve scrapped them. I tried to talk about this chronologically, but I find that I’m just superficially discussing smaller plot points and avoiding what I really want to talk about:
Sex is a terrifying thing.
At the heart of “Innocence” is a fear that I know well, one that I am familiar with despite that I am not straight. More than ever before, I was able to apply the narrative of Buffy’s experience to my own life, and it broke my heart. Frankly, though, I’m flabbergasted that a show was dealing with the horrors and the pain of teenage sexuality in 1998. Do you know how much I could have used this back then?
I’ve mentioned it before, but sometimes I have difficulty with narratives about the experience of losing one’s virginity, especially in the context of high school, because I did not get to have that life. It’s an interesting aspect of homophobia and heterosexism that I think goes unaddressed: sometimes, those of us who are queer don’t get to have lives that resemble the ones that are unfolding around us. When we inevitably dealt with human sexuality in health class, I knew that not one second of what they were telling me applied to my life. All of it was strictly homosexual. I actually went to a school where our school district forcibly cut out pages with references and visuals of birth control. We weren’t allowed to see how to put on a condom, we could not learn how to use them, the benefits of birth control were not taught to us, and we were only told two things: Do not have sex until you’re married, and then when you do, here is how to raise a child in a marriage.
So you can imagine a few things just from this. I did not know how to have sex as a queer dude. I did not know what I was supposed to do. I did not know how to protect myself. I did not know anything about consent issues in the context of gay sex. I did not know anything at all. Which is not to say that all of the straight people around me suddenly knew everything there was to know about sex, either; they were pretty damn ignorant about it as well. Oh, the joy of abstinence-only education! You were the best thing ever.
Because of this, though, sex became a frightening thing for me, and one of those fears manifests itself in such a terrifying way here in “Innocence.” It’s important to also remember that on top of not getting any sort of education on sex as a gay man, I was raised to believe that any sort of sexual impulse or desire was deeply sinful, a detriment to my character, and a guarantee that I’d go to hell. Even though I was on my way out of Christianity by the time I finally did lose my virginity, it took years to eliminate the shame that came along with it. Like Buffy, I was glad the moment happened, but the ramifications of it scared me almost more than the act itself. What would other people think of me? Should I tell the friends I still have left what happened?
I used to have a personal blog many years ago when I was in college, and I wrote there about my first few sexual experiences as a freshman. To me, I was excited to finally come into my own and do what I wanted with my own body. Was the sex great those first few times? Not particularly, if I can be honest. Actually, some day I’ll share the story of the first time I had sex. In hindsight, it’s pretty hilarious, but that’s not the point. People I knew from high school found that blog I wrote, and, much like the conversation Buffy has with Angel in his apartment, the reaffirmed their hatred and disgust with me being sexual at all. There was a lot of slut-shaming, a lot of violent, vicious homophobia, and a pervasive sense that these people knew more about my own body than I did.
What made me cry (AND OH, HOW I CRIED DURING THAT SCENE) the most was this idea that Angel made Buffy feel like she’d fucked up. That is what happened to me. I felt like I’d given up a part of myself to the guys I had slept with. That’s what was so harmful about the slut-shaming that I got: I believed them. I believed they were right, that I’d done something so horrible that I was less of a person for having sex. That’s why this hurts Buffy so much. She believed that Angel loved her, that this moment was special, and he confirms the absolute worst of her fears: it meant nothing at all.
Seriously, Joss Whedon, where do you come up with these ideas?
It’s so distressing to watch both because of how of harsh and vicious it is, and because at this point, I’m starting to truly enjoy Buffy as a character. I’m at that moment in a fictional universe where I start wanting only good things for people, and now I know what a horrible thing that is to want on this show. It’s clear that Angel and Buffy were written so romantically over the course of this season specifically because they were going to be torn apart. Seriously, think about that: Angel is not “cured” by the episode’s end. He’s still Angelus. HE IS NOW A VILLAIN FOR AT LEAST A FEW MORE EPISODES SWEET SUMMER CHILD.
Before I talk about some of the other characters, though, I do want to discuss one thing this episode does that saves it from being gross. I was concerned that the story might make it seem like it’s Buffy’s fault that she inadvertently “created” her main antagonist, and I really didn’t want to have to watch a show that posits sex as something that makes evil dudes. Like, there are enough of those stories out in the world, and I’m sick of it. I enjoy that the final two scenes of “Innocence,” then, are with Giles and Joyce. It is such a beautiful thing to me that Whedon goes out of his way to have a male figure in Buffy’s life tell her that Angel is not her fault, that she is not irrational for choosing to have sex, and that he supports her. I just started sobbing into my tissue when Buffy teared up. THIS IS A GOOD MESSAGE AND IT MAKES ME FEEL SO MANY GOOD THINGS.
But the one thing that truly comforts Buffy, even for a moment, is her mother. It’s the best possible way for this episode to end, given the circumstances, because Buffy feels safe with her. Look, I just love Joyce Summers a lot, okay? I eagerly await the episode when Buffy can just tell her mom what’s going on. I NEED IT.
Here are other things that are fantastic in “Innocence”:
- Oh, I totally noticed it: When Buffy returns to the library in the beginning of the episode, pay attention to both Xander and Cordelia. Both of them insult one another, and each time, the other person doesn’t smile or joke back. Oh my god, they totally have feelings for each other and this is beautiful.
- OH MY GOD ANGEL KILLS A WOMAN AND SUCKS THE SMOKE OUT OF HER THROAT JOSS WHEDON WHAT IS YOUR BRAIN.
- I know they’re all bad guys, but the dynamic between Angel, Drusilla, and Spike when Angel returns to them the first time is just fascinating. I can’t say I ever expected this in a million years.
- Angel kisses Spike on the head. WHERE ARE THE FICS. WHERE ARE THEY.
- OH MY GOD WILLOW CAUGHT XANDER AND CORDELIA. oh my god my heart.
- oh my god Willow is yelling at Xander about her feelings PLEASE HELP ME.
- oh my god Buffy is having a breakdown on her bed I CAN’T STOP MY EYES FROM WATERING. Seriously, Joss Whedon, I don’t know how you do this. I don’t.
- Okay, I do like that Jenny continues to fight her uncle about what to do with Angel. I think that the show never really goes deep into the issue of the Romani culture; that’s probably problematic in and of itself, but at least we aren’t bombarded with a ton of gross cultural stereotypes. Instead, it becomes an issue of morality and vengeance, albeit justified vengeance. Yes, Angel deserves to lose his soul, but in the process, Jenny recognizes that they’ve created an even bigger problem by setting Angel free from his humanity right when The Judge is about to annihilate Sunnydale.
- Oz’s entire make-out scene/speech. Oh my god, I don’t care, I ship Willow/Oz so fucking hard now. I love the way he talks. I love the way she looks at him. JUST BE MY EVERYTHING ALREADY.
- Buffy’s birthday present.
- Her birthday present is a rocket launcher.
- You’re not excited enough.
- THERE IS A ROCKET LAUNCHER IN THIS EPISODE AND BUFFY BLOWS THE JUDGE INTO HUNDREDS OF TINY PIECES I LOVE THIS SO MUCH
- Okay, I must admit that it’s a tiny bit hot to see Angel and Buffy fight under those sprinklers. Just a little bit.
- Joyce Summers made her daughter a birthday cupcake. JUST LET ME DIE.
oh god my heart still hurts SEND HELP.
Yes, Mark, half of the ROT13 over the last week has been anticipation of your reaction to this pair of episodes – they are so very much conceived as a single unit. It's easy to overlook stuff because they are so full of awesome – character developments, plot twists, dialogue to die for.
And, believe me, there is fic. There is even specifically rocket-launcher fic. There's a reason a show which started fifteen years ago still holds such an important part in so many fic archives.
Xander is so fixated on his own, very conventional, idea of what masculinity is. I love the exchange with Cordelia which says so much about him:
CORDELIA: Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?
XANDER: I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.
"Linoleum" has been a catchword in my family for over a decade as my kids reached and grew out of their teens.
The dynamic with three vampires is wonderful on so many levels – The Judge is a bit-part-player in what is so obviously a long-running situation.
Boreanaz is so much better being nasty than nice. They do say "good" is very hard to make interesting. And what Angelus does to Buffy is the stuff of everyone's nightmares. Superbly-written and hard not to cry over even after umpteen viewings.
I imagine you believe you are prepared now? BWAHAHAHA!!!
Rocket launcher fic! Yes! That and the linoleum are highlights.
It's been a few episodes since I've found time to comment, and even now I don't have time to read the FOUR PAGES of comments that came before, so I'll just say that somehow, whenever I watch this episode, I cry just as much as the first time I watched it when I was 12 years old. It's all just so terrible, and poor Buffy doesn't even really get time to process everything before she has to attack a big blue smurf demon with a rocket launcher.
I love that rocket launcher, by the way.
The one thing I did notice was that on this watch, I was even more touched by the scene between Buffy and Joyce at the very end. Joyce is just such an excellent parent; I can't even imagine how I would begin to handle it if my teenage daughter looked so sad on her birthday and I had no idea why. And she doesn't pry or ask–she's just there for Buffy. It's a beautiful parent-child relationship and I am so happy it was on TV and so happy that I now own it on DVD.
Gung'f ubj V erfcbaq gb "Gur Tvsg." V pel RIREL GVZR. Ertneqyrff bs ubj znal gvzrf V'ir jngpurq vg.
Mark,
I'd love to see the 500 page chonological post that you scrapped. Any chance of posting it as an addendum?
What he said – but with huge puppy eyes added!
omg i said WORDS. omg if I wrote five hundred pages on ANYTHING that wasn't my first novel, I would just stop writing.
And I didn't save it! It made me mad, so i just deleted it.
Make sure you never do that to the first chapters of a novel. I've done it – gotten mad and deleted – and after that I know that it was the best writing I could ever achieve – a veritable mix of Whedon and Gaiman.
Logically I' know this isn't true, but every time I think of it…..I believe I understand hoarding more clearly.
So, do you happen to remember any of the 500 words? A few besides it, the, and, a? (tries kitten eyes for diversity)
There really is so much to love about this episode, every time I watch it, it captivates.
So this day went badly and I couldn't get near a computer.
Silly smoke scene.
'no assembly required' title callback!
I am hurting and smiling at the same time why
I love that star scene.
"Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the tundra, which suddenly flips over, pinning you underneath. At night the ice weasels come."
-Matt Groening
I had the feeling that we should start a We <3 Cordelia Club. But it shouldn't be me, because I'm loyal to Buffy.
Would this scene have been more or less effective if we hadn't known that Angel lost his soul? And we get the love theme reprised at the end.
Nice W/X scene. Xander's being really nice despite that it's not exactly a betrayal of Willow to want another girl. Although I guess it must hurt since it's someone whose so mean to both of them.
SO MEAN.
Reprise of love theme as Buffy runs out of the library.
Buffy tears. My poor darling. How many times will I have to note this love theme bu lrnu Orpbzvat.
Willow/Oz <3.
But guys, it's not even Miss Calendar's fault.
Hey, I forgot that they went to the factory and Spike had to hide. I never remember this.
Oz is already so productive.
Mmm, battle plan.
What, Drusilla goes off in a fit? Not badass for her first coming out party. D: Yeah I know Spike and now Angel run away too, but still it bothers me.
She thought she could kill him. She tried. Couldn't, and that might come back to haunt her until she can. If she'd been honest with herself then she'd have realized she wasn't ready no matter what her duty was and might've brought chains or something to trap him like with HyenaXander, and Giles could set him on fire or something. But I can see how she wouldn't, how she tried her best to steel herself and believe he was the enemy and she'd kill him. If she hadn't she might have crumbled instead of thinking of a capture plan.
Here's a fic of Buffy's diary until the night of her birthday. There shouldn't be any spoilers, but I'm sure you all don't need me to tell you not the read the whole thing. Read the last entry if you want: http://harpy.bitchenvy.com/bd01-21-98-3.html
Rirelgvzr Znex gnyxf nobhg uvf Wblpr ybir vg xvyyf zr. V nyzbfg qba'g jnag gb ernq uvf erivrj bs 'Gur Obql' (tenagrq V unir gb jnvg njuvyr!) Ohg vg'f nyy V guvax bs rirelgvzr ur gnyxf nobhg ubj njrfbzr fur vf. Vg'f tbvat gb qrfgebl uvz.
"What's that do?"
Before I post my listy thoughts… *gives Mark a gigantic hug* 🙁
-Oooh, poor Buffy.
-Oh shit, here we go. We begin the agonizing torture that is this episode.
-DAMN, he drained that woman fast! The smoke is a cool touch though.
-This is so creepy and uncomfortable, but I'm also really entertained by how much David Boreanaz is enjoying being evil.
-Noooo, poor Willow! Great acting from Alyson here.
-Oh god not this scene. Poor Buffy, oh god. This is so cruel, I can barely stand to watch it.
-Nonono! Leave Willow alone!
-There is no way Xander would have been able to break into the Army base so easily, but it gets us a rocket launcher and a sweet moment with Oz.
-Jeez, how often does this sort of creepy shit have to happen in public before Sunnydale gets a clue? Does someone just go around zapping people's memories like in Men in Black?
-The posters for "Quest for Camelot" in the background of this scene are distracting.
-Thank you,show, for not shaming Buffy for having sex and blaming her for what happened. This could easily have turned into "SEX IS BAD DON'T DO IT!"
-I love you Giles, and I love Joyce.
I actually can't personally relate to this episode much because, well, as much as I hate to admit, I've never had sex. Hell, I've never even had an S.O. (Thanks middle school, for making me so shy I am completely unable to ask anyone out even now that I'm in college.) I can sort of relate to the fear of screwing up and not being liked by your partner a little, since I often worry that when it does happen my inexperience will ruin everything. However, the things that happen in 'Innocence" seem eerily similar to stories I've heard from friends about guys/girls treating them like shit after they "got what they wanted", and that is what makes so much of this creepy to me.
Yeah everything else has been said I'm just really surprised that only two people have mentioned the movie posters.
Okay Joss, you have this huge, emotionally charged scene! What's teh setting? …A mall theater with a Quest for Camelot poster or two? Are you sure…?
I mean sure, not every personally significant battle has to be somewhere meaningful but… Really? You couldn't have thrown up something over that?
(also first comment post ever on here! yay?)
My poor Calendiles heart… 🙁
David Boreanaz must have liked playing the evil dude, his acting skills seem to have improved just after his transformation from Angel to Angelus. He makes a really good villain.
After seeing these two episodes, I knew I would follow this show no matter where it took me.
When ever I try to get someone to watch the show, I tell them they aren't allowed to give up on it until after Innocence. If you get to the last scene of that episode, and aren't DYING to see what happens next, there is no point in watching more.
I love it when the show subverts old prophecies and says "get with the times!"
This has always been something BtVS does really well, doesn't it? It was a huge theme in the original movie script too. That's why Buffy, Spike, and Cordelia are such stand-out characters to me — they do a lot rejecting established thought and restating things in their own unconventional way.
So, I'm late to this one because OF ALL THE DAYS IN THE WORLD, my friends chose TODAY as the day where we go do friendshippy stuff and keep me from reading Mark's blog right on time.
jesus take the wheel what is this real life
Ahem.
Anyways.
ANYWAYS
THIS EPISODE
I mean I could just capslock the rest of this comment because U GUISE THIS EPISODE O M G
There's BUFFY and ANGEL IS EVIL and WILLOW IS HEARTBROKEN 🙁 and then OZ IS JUST SO AWESOME and ALL THE THINGS
ROCKET LAUNCHER
!!!
And Giles is comforting and Joyce is just there for her daughter, and it is beautiful.
Also, Buffy kicks Angel in the nuts. How beautiful is that?
WHERE ARE THE FICS. WHERE ARE THEY.
Oh Mark. THEY HAVE BEEN EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME
Also, *sends help*
ALSO
German title time! Der gefallene Engel – 'The Fallen Angel' (using the actualy word for angel; Angel's name in the dub was Angel, but the title, because, geddit, Angel is English for … angel . . .)
I love that one. I guess it's just so… melodramatic in its double meaning? 😀
We've definitely had (and will have!) worse dub titling decisions, so yes, this one is lovable in its melodramaticness.
But Jesus Christ, looking at my comment above my brain does this sort of language short circuiting where I don't know whether to read '(A/a)ngel' as English angel or as German Angel 'fishing rod' >_>
Yay, there are worse on the way! 😀 I love reading these every day, I'm so glad you're posting them for us!
I want to take a moment to honour the school health nurse who taught Sex Ed at my high school. Her name was Andrea Pearson, and due to budget cuts she had to do one Sex Ed class for the entire senior student body (about 400 noisy teenagers) in the school’s assembly hall. Nonetheless she started out by saying, “Your body is yours, you decide what you do with it, and who is allowed to touch it.” She proceeded to celebrate all different types of bodies and sexual relationships, kept her cool when a guy in my class decided to show everyone his third nipple and even demonstrated the use of a dental dam. Seriously, dams aren’t something you hear about very often (shaming sex for pleasure, shaming female sexuality and god forbid… Lesbians.) I am so incredibly glad that she exists.
"It just means you'd rather be with someone you hate, than with me."
"I thought you were a pro."
"Oh, I'm not going to kiss you right now."
"No weapon forged…
"That was then, this now"
"What does that do?"
BTVS began to stake it's claim to "best show on television right here. I don't agree with Whedon that this is the "best" episode of the series, but it is, by far, the most important. Everything changes right there when Angelus returns.
It's two classic themes, one a fiction trope, the other, sadly, often real life.
It is one of the strongest tropes of horror films, that having sex is BAD. I don't think Whedon uses it for the moralistic statement (indeed, Giles specifically rejects that) but rather in tribute to the horror film roots of the show.
Second, of course, the all too common "I slept with him, and he became a totally different person." The show is dealing with high school through metaphors, but the wall between reality and metaphor gets real thin right there. She slept with him, and he woke up a vicious killer.
God it hurts to watch. God I love this show.
Oh, and I forgot one.
"You can't kill me"
*PUNT IN THE BALLS*
"Give me time."
BAD. ASS.
Also also, my one complaint.
"where some trashy…er"
Fails on two levels, both the disgusting slut-shaming level AND the fact that, even if I was one to be okay with slut-shaming and sexism (I'm not) it would STILL fail because she's dressed like a typical late 90's preppy girl, with absolutely nothing that could be interpreted as "trashy" about her outfit.
Seriously, wasn't she wearing, like, a sweater and a skirt? GOD FORBID!!!
IIRC, she had a tasteful blouse with a sweater draped over it, and a fairly normal length skirt.
Indeed. Not only is her outfit in no way "trashy" (I think Xander is just going for being knee-jerk insulting here), but I feel like most of the stuff she wears is not that different from a lot of Buffy's wardrobe.
Not sure if that was the writers have Xander fail at the joke or just wardrobe really messing up.
But, yes, even if you accept the idea of "trashy" clothing, Cordy doesn't tend to fall into it.
I don't think he was joking. I think he was hurt and lashing out in the only way he could think of. By having Cordy wear something that couldn't even remotely be construed as suggestive, I think they were making a point having Xander's insult look inept so it would appear that he feels out of his depth and even more insecure than normal when it comes to his relationship with Cordy.
Honestly, I think Cordy is also confused and flailing when it comes to her feelings for Xander. I don't think she expected to have any at all.
I’ve always felt that the curse itself (though then in a way that equates having a soul with being cursed, doesn’t it?) was a great punishment. Making that punishment so easily reversible – not such a good idea. (Unless of course it was magically required, to balance the equation or somesuch). Bad judgement on their part to be so certain that he’d never have any moment of happiness.
As for the claim that “the human you were is entirely gone” … as others have brought up, certainly it’s clear that the human memories remain, and as what we have experienced shapes our personality, it seems like this would account for the differences we see between vampires. (Unless the demons that replace the human’s soul vary wildly in “personality” as well.)
I've always seen the two as split personalities rfcrpvnyyl fvapr va Natry gurl arrqrq gb erzbir uvf fbhy ntnva orpnhfr Natryhf unq n qvssrerag zvaq guna Natry. Ur rira unq qvssrerag zrzbevrf. Fbegn.
bu tbq V sbhaq gung cybg va Natry evqvphybhfyl pbagevirq naq fperjrq hc n ybg bs gur zlgubybtl. Vg jnf zhpu orggre jura gurl jrer gur fnzr crefba ohg jvgu nqqrq rzcngul naq pbafpvrapr. Yvxr Natry jbhyq jnag gb zheqre crbcyr ohg qvqa'g pbf ur jbhyq srry njshy nsgre. Pnfr va cbvag ur fgvyy unq n guvat sbe puhepurf nsgre ur jnf phefrq.
Evtug, V guvax gurl zrffrq gur zlgubybtl n ovg gurer gb trg gur cybg jurer gurl jnagrq vg. Nygubhtu, lbh pbhyq nethr gung vg jnf n jrveq syhxr va gur fcryy gung znqr crbcyr sbetrg nobhg gur Ornfg (be fbzrguvat gb gung rssrpg–gurer jnf n fcryy, naq vg jnfa'g whfg Natry/hf jub jnf nssrpgrq). Natry/hf vf n cerggl havdhr pnfr, nsgre nyy, fb lbh pna xvaq bs znxr hc nalguvat lbh jnag nobhg uvz naq pnyy vg pnaba. V zrna, p'zba, ur UNQ N XVQ…
THINGS THAT ARE FUNNY ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
– Angel evidently took the time to get fully dressed after waking up in the middle of the night before stumbling outside into pouring rain.
– There's not even a hint of blood on his face after draining someone.
– NOTHING. THAT'S ALL THAT'S FUNNY. Everything else is a rollercoaster of pain and horror.
On the sort of good side, SMG is just phenomenal in this episode. That dawning look of devastation on her face while her sweet, broody, loving boyfriend says all of these horrible things to her and she has no idea why and she thinks it's all her fault–I don't know if I've ever been as affected by a line as the way she delivers "Was it me? Was I…not good?" Jesus christ, I can't count how many times I've watched this episode and I still feel my heart breaking into pieces. And the ending scenes…the way Giles is so respectful of and kind to her, the way Joyce looks at her with palpable love and concern when Buffy just says she got older (MY HEART OH MY GOD), the song playing the episode out…it's really just perfect.
As someone else here said about her monolog in Prophecy girl:
"7 years. 0 Emmys."
God damn this is a great episode of television.
It's not just about the sex itself; I think Whedon wanted to highlight what happens when a guy "changes" after having sex. He goes from the good boyfriend to the jerk just like that.
I'm sooooooooooo eager to hear your thoughts on the three villains' dynamic as the episodes continue.
I love Willow's speech. So much.
I love your reaction to this episode. When I was anticipating you reaching this episode (after not seeing it in a while) I was thinking about the implications of this horrible thing happening to Buffy after having sex and was worried that Buffy was being blamed for her actions. Then I watched it again and realized that is not at all what it is doing. It's showing a very negative consequence to sex, not for moral reasons, but because of relationship dynamics and how people change because of sex.
I LOVED Giles' and Joyce's support of Buffy, not blaming her and recognizing her as the same person that she was before. Really, there's so many fantastic things about this episode: Oz's speech, dru/spike/angel dynamic, buffy/angel fight, willow finding out about cordelia/xander, the many HEARTBREAKING buffy scenes in which SMG is BRILLIANT.
Also, I always forget that this is the episode with the rocket launcher. For some reason, it seems like such a big event that it must have happened had an entire plot line devoted to it. But no, a whole lot of stuff just happened in one single episode.
Definitely a significant episode of the series, though still not one of my absolute favourites. Which goes to show how brilliant this show is.
One feminist framing of this story arc that I've seen has to do with how often the most abusive, dangerous men are very charming in the beginning of a relationship. They're appealing, they're romantic, the relationship is like a fairy tale of true love and intimacy, and then wham, when she's in and it's difficult to get out and she's vulnerable they begin to reveal their true colors. Metaphorically, that's kind of what's happened to Buffy here.
(Naq bs pbhefr gur fnzr nohfvir cnegaref bsgra orpbzr punezvat naq fjrrg ntnva whfg jura n jbzna tnguref gur fgeratgu naq erfbheprf gb yrnir gur eryngvbafuvc be cerff punetrf. Gurl'er fbeel, gurl'er pbagevgr, gurl'er ihyarenoyr, gurl fhpx ure onpx va. Gur aneengvir qbrfa'g yrg guvf unccra gb Ohssl — vs lbh ybbx ng ure orvat cbvfrq gb yvgrenyyl qryvire gur qrngu fgebxr gb Natry nf n zrgncube sbe raqvat gur eryngvbafuvc, jura ur fhqqrayl orpbzrf ure punezvat, ihyarenoyr oblsevraq ntnva fur ergnvaf ure erfbyir, sbyybjf guebhtu naq raqf vg.)
Instead, it becomes an issue of morality and vengeance, albeit justified vengeance. Yes, Angel deserves to lose his soul, but in the process, Jenny recognizes that they’ve created an even bigger problem by setting Angel free from his humanity right when The Judge is about to annihilate Sunnydale.
"What Profit Vengeance?"
I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND I STILL SAID OMG
omg evil DB is really hot #shallow
WILLOW OH BB<3
OH MY GOD MY HEART
MIND BLOWN HOLY HELL WHAT A CURSE
LOL SOFT PORN
YEAAAAAAH BAMF BUFFY
OH XANDER BB YOU WENT TO GET AN ACTUAL ARMY HAHAHA
OMG OZ YOU ARE MY FAVORITE THIS MEANS YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE RIGHT
GIIIIILES
OH GOD ANGEL IS WATCHING FROM THE WINDOW ISN'T HE
THANK GOD I WAS WRONG
It's laaaaaaaate and I am too tired to write anything of the sense-making variety, but pretty much every minute Buffy is onscreen I am crying. There are also long-awaited tears of joy for DBor's acting skills and leather pants of evil, GLORY HALLELUJAH. Angelus is the main development, but I love how the supporting plots are all variations on the theme of betrayal; they break up enough core relationships to leave each of the main characters struggling to redefine at least one while sustaining others that ensure the group still stays together. No one is left alone except for Jenny. Both she and Buffy have struggled with the idea of love vs. duty this season, and here their diverging choices come to a head: love crushes Buffy, and duty Jenny.
There's some dialogue from a cut scene with Jenny's uncle that helped the curse make more sense to me. The use of "worthy" is a bit weird, because it makes the soul sound like a gift instead of a punishment, but it does underscore that once Angel is happy, the curse has no use anymore:
ANGEL: You gypsy types, you go and curse people, you really don't care who gets hurt. Of course, you did give me an escape clause, so I gotta thank you for that.
ENYOS: You are an abomination. The day you stop suffering for your crimes, you are no longer worthy of a human soul.
ANGEL: Well, that pesky critter's all gone. So we can get down to business.
When I was growing up I saw a Magic School Bus episode where one of the characters said that people are never more than three feet away from a spider. I still don't know if that's true (yikes), but if you replace "spider" with "Spike/Angel fic" it definitely is.
Qvqa'g tb gb jryy sbe gur nhqvrapr, rvgure. Jbefg rcvfbqr, vzb.
Oz’s entire make-out scene/speech. Oh my god, I don’t care, I ship Willow/Oz so fucking hard now. I love the way he talks. I love the way she looks at him. JUST BE MY EVERYTHING ALREADY.
This was a total "Seth Green, MY BODY IS READY" moment for me. This episode really established Oz as such a sweet, honest, nice guy (and such a contrast to Xander's Nice Guy bullshittery).
Also, something I love about Joss Whedon's screwed up brain is how he brings up tiny continuity things when you totally don't expect them: Xander's "Oh yeah I remember all this stuff from being a soldier" may have been kind of a deus ex machina in that it gave them access to a weapon to defeat the Judge when things seemed hopeless, but at the same time, it was perfect. It's little details like this that make Whedon shows feel more like a coherent, continuing arc rather than a bunch of one-off episodes that constantly reset themselves after an hour. He's constantly noting things that happened before and their impacts on the current situation.
KSDHG:&(SDG(&YSDGHS I HATE THAT I HAVE MONEY-MAKING RESPONSIBILITIES AND CANNOT COME AROUND TO COMMENT MORE OFTEN.
Being rejected and told that something that was so important and meaningful to you meant absolutely nothing to the other party is such a real, visceral fear. I didn't quite catch all the metaphorical subtleties as a teen watching this show, but I still know it gutted me. Who isn't terrified that someone they care deeply about will come by one day and say LOL JUST KIDDING IT WAS FUN I GUESS BUT I'M OUT, LATER.
This was the first episode of Buffy I ever saw. I was rather confused. But I was most definitely hooked.
My father had read something about it in the newspaper- it was getting a lot of press because it was switching nights or something (this two parter was aired on consecutive nights- the old one and the new one). He had watched it the previous night, so was able to answer some of my questions. I came in probably about ten minutes into the episode and started watching. I had just turned 13 and Buffy was just- I dunno- so different and smart and exciting and from then on it was event television for my whole family. I mean, I shouldn't have liked it- I hated scary movies, at the time I had no desire to be known as a "teenager", I could care less about "teen" issues, but I loved it. And it helped me grow up. My father, my older sister, my younger brother and even, on occassin, my mother gathered together to watch it every week, discussing it, trying to figure out what was going to happen. (I think the other shows we have all watched are BSG, Veronica Mars, Sherlock and Arrested Developement- I love my family.) Somehow, it made the prospect of growing up less scary, I guess? I just know, that in a very real way, Buffy helped me make sense of the scary world of high school that I was entering in a couple short years. Every time I watch Innocence, even now when I've seen all the episodes of Buffy multiple times, it brings back the memories of the freshness and awe, the confusion, the feeling of not knowing what was going on, but knowing that it was something special. I think before Buffy, I just viewed growing up as scary. But with Buffy, I viewed it as something that could be exciting as well.
As my namesake would say, "…it should be recommended that every neighborhood should have a bazooka, and that responsible adults should know where it is."
A favorite line from Vonnegut's book Timequake. Just don't get enough opportunities to bring that quote up in casual conversation. Thanks Joss.
I am posting after reading all six pages of comments, just to say that 'Angel' no longer looks like a word.
I've read a lot of the comments for this episode, and wanted to respond (a little late) to the people who criticized the episode as one more example of "sex leads to girl being punished." I would have replied directly, but I needed to think over whether I actually disagreed, or was just having a knee-jerk protective moment.
Buffy's heart-breaking question, "was I not good?" resonates so strongly with me–I've been there. And I've been on the receiving end of the response that I was nothing to my partner. But BtVS is one of the first shows (that I had ever seen–at the time anyway) that came down unequivocally that Angel's response was EVIL. Before then, TV characters were punished for having sex, but worse, we were lead to believe that such punishment was EARNED. Here, horrible things happen to Buffy after sex, but the characters are clear that Buffy doesn't deserve such treatment, that Angel is being evil, that his evilness is not her fault, and that she wasn't wrong or stupid for trusting him with her body.
The idea that Buffy isn't a stupid slut who deserved what she got is such a novel concept for a television show, and such a point worth making, that I think it was worth the show using the tired trope of sex leads to punishment one more time in order to make it. At least, it was worth it to then/ME.
But I appreciate so much the different viewpoints people are bringing to this show. It's making me look at aspects of the show in a whole new way — especially all the slut-shaming of Cordelia, which I'm ashamed to admit I simply swallowed without question on original viewing because I disliked her during the first season.
Just some thoughts..was it Sex or Love that broke the curse….snaf bs Ohssl naq Natry xabj gung Natry unq n cnffvbangr frkhny rapbhagre jvgu Qneyn, uvf jrerjbys tveysevraq naq fgvyy xrcg uvf fbhy. Gur znva gubhtug urer vf n "zbzrag bs cresrpg unccvarff"…V oryvrir gung bppheerq juvyr Natry jnf ylvat va gur nezf bs gur bayl jbzna ur rire ybirq naq ernyvmvat ubj unccl ur jnf, ohg gura V nz na byq ebznagvp naq gung vf jung V jnag gb oryrvir.
Such a sad retrospective:
[youtube 2UACBTXJZaE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UACBTXJZaE youtube]
Just commenting to say I'm following your entries as you watch Buffy (though I've gotten a bit behind reading them), and it's really cool to see what a new fan thinks without any prior knowledge. I almost wish I could erase my memory of the show and rewatch it all as a first-time viewer- it'd be so exciting! And I've always loved Willow and Oz as much as you 😀 That's what I wanted my high school relationship life to be like…instead, like you, I had none either.
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